Final Day of the Cruise

Thursday, July 28, 2011: On the Sea

And here we are. The final day of the cruise. I loved this day because we were on the water all day. There were no commitments. No stops. Nothing that we absolutely had to do or see. It was just chill. I loved it.

Like every other morning, I woke up and had a great workout. I started in the gym, but then realized that I was cray-cray for staying inside on such a gorgeous day. So I made my way out on deck and walked laps around the ship for about an hour ish. It truly is unbelievably incredible to see the ocean. If you've never seen it, get on expedia asap or another travel site and book a trip to see the big blue see!

This was what was surrounding me while I walked Thursday morning:

The front of the ship:
Hello, beautiful sunrise:
I could have walked all day outside on the ship with this view:
After my walk, Camie and I grabbed breakfast before we got massages! Yes, that's right! Massages!!!! All 4 of us signed up for a Ginger and Lime Massage. Kirby and Kim got their massage at 8:00 and Camie and I got our's at 9:00 ish I think.

Now this, my friends, is a heavenly sight:
That's a massage bed, my dear ones. To begin the massage, she rubbed this ginger and lime scrub all over my body. It felt awesome and hurt all at the same time. I was a little pink ish on my legs, so the scrubby salt stuff kind of burned. But oh boy, it made my skin silky smooth! After the scrub down, I had to take a shower to wash it all off. Then I put on these little throw-away underwear-ish-spanky-pants. Kind of pervy. Kind of gross. But whatev. Anything for the massage, right?

The gal who was my massage therapist's name was Kaneetha (I think) and she is from South Africa. Her accent was beautiful and she was sweet as sweet can be. And she has the hands sent from God above. It was a glorious massage, I tell ya. Absolutely glorious.

Just look at this face of relaxation and happiness:
It was perfect!

After my heaven-sent massage, I headed out to the pool to soak up the last-day-of-the-cruise rays.

By the way, this was our view from our room:

Lovely.

It was REALLY hot and REALLY crowded at the pool. Since we weren't stopping anywhere, the pool was hoppin'! There was a belly-flop contest and a sexiest man contest (which ended up being a strip fest!!) and of course...people watching. We all read and finished our books that we brought, and decided it was time to move indoors around 2:30 ish. Too dang hot.

So we all went inside, showered up and explored the ship for a while. Last minute shopping (I bought some perfume and Kim got a couple shirts for Jamie and Marty) and then we played B-I-N-G-O!!!! BINGO!!!

Most extreme Bingo board ever:
We got the big mamma-jamma Bingo package with like 300 Bingo cards (give or take a few). This upped our chances of winning.

Here are the "lucky" cards:
The blue thing Kim is holding is an electric Bingo card. I think there were like 20 ish "cards" on there. It was pretty cool! And it kept track for us! Easy!

We also got a couple of these little strips to see if we won any money. Kirby was the only winner!:
Mine...not so lucky:
After 4 games of Bingo, none of us were winners. The first few games were cash prizes and the final game was a free cruise for 2! And get this! The winner of the cruise didn't even act excited. He said, "bingo" all nonchalantly and could have cared less! When he really should have donated it to...oh I dunno...ME!

Unlucky:
Kirby's lucky win of $5!!:
Final night at dinner. Obligatory dining room pics. Camie and Kirby:
Me and Kim:
And then we heard it. "Showtime". The waitstaff put on a "show" and danced around the dining room doing silly things and wearing napkins and singing. It was pretty stinkin' funny. Here they are:
Kirby thought they were pretty hilarious! The guy behind him had this jumping spoon in a napkin thing...I don't know. You had to be there. it was so funny!:
Dancing around the dining room:
See the man in the back holding up that black thing?:
It was his iPad!!!! He used that thing all week to take pictures of the food, of the place setting, of his family, the waitstaff, everything!! His iPad!!! It just didn't seem right. If you can afford an iPad 2, then by golly, you can get yourself a little point and shoot camera, donchathink? It was funny regardless.

Our assistant waitress, Marigold, had a think for Kirby. She saw him do the Macarena and told him over and over again how "sexy" he was. She also told him to add her on Facebook. Have you done that yet, Kirby?

Marigold and Kirb:
Camie and I after dinner:
Beautimous sunset:
The waves were HUGE Thursday night! I couldn't feel it on the boat, but they were just large and crashing and stunning:
I could get used to this:
Family pic minus Marty and Jamie:
There aren't words to express how much we missed you two.

Big o' waves:
Looking at the waves:
Being cheesy...Kirby, quit flexing:
Front of the ship at sunset:
I can't begin to tell you how beautiful this night was. The waves, the sounds, the sun, the clouds...pure heaven:
Honestly, one of my favorite parts of the whole cruise was just watching the water. There is just something majestic about seeing the ocean for miles and miles. We serve a mighty awesome God who did a fine job when he created the ocean!

⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10)

I'd say it's a little better than "good"! It was grand! Awesome! Powerful! Inspiring!

Thank you, God, for creating the ocean :)

All in all, it was a fantastic trip! The company was spectacular. The cruise was a blast. The weather was perfect. The excursions were so much fun. The crew was hilarious. And we just had a ball together! I'd certainly go on another one :) Thank you, Marty, for sending us on such a fantabulous trip. I truly appreciate it and appreciate you! I love you dearly and thank you for your generosity!

Hope you've enjoyed reading about our cruise to the Bahamas! Love and hugs!